This blog is where I occasionally
post entries about Alaskan backcountry cross country skiing news,
issues, ideas, gear reviews and other random stuff that doesn't fit the
format of my yearly trip report web pages.

Late July 2015:
In Alaska, It's Not Just Earthquakes That Shake Your House

I pulled images from a game
camera that monitors our "bear massage post" (also know as
the corner post of our cabin). Lots of activity recently.
The dates on these images are not correct (I didn't set the
camera time correctly). There are a bunch of bear
post pictures below on this web page. Bears are apparently attracted
to the creosote in railroad ties. And once a few start
rubbing on the railroad tie, and leave their scent, then more
and more join in. And before long ... it becomes a bear massage post!

I've come up with the theory that remote
cabins in Alaska need "bear anodes". Zinc anodes are used
on outboard motors, where the zinc is a sacrificial material
that attracts electrical charges, corrodes first and protects
the engine. A railroad tie on the corner of a cabin seems
to work as a sacrificial bear anode. As long as the bears
have something that attracts them to mess with, they leave the
rest of the cabin alone. I have a game camera on the door
to our cabin and have never seen a bear at the door. They
just go to one place on the cabin, their rubbing post ... sniff,
scratch and rub ... and then move on.

A midnight visit by a momma brownie
and her cubs.

A huge 7 foot tall brown bear.

A marten.

Late July 2015:
Costco Carbon Fiber Trekking Poles - Not Bombproof, But A Good
Deal

A quick gear review of a
product that might be of interest: For the last three years my
wife and I have been using the Cascade Mountain Tech carbon
fiber trekking poles that you can buy at Costco. We like
them. They are super-light, they have the extended grips
for steep slopes and the friction locks work well. They
are anti-shock poles, but I always keep them in non-bounce mode.
But as they are carbon fiber, if you bang them against rocks
enough ... they will break. I found this out recently.
I plan on getting a replacement pair at Costco. If you can
get three years out of these poles, for the price they're a good
deal. They've been selling for $30 a pair at Costco.

Recently we've had interesting experiences with these trekking
poles. I put pink duct tape on my wife's poles to identify
them. Twice this summer when we were hiking high-up on
alpine tundra ridges in Prince William Sound ... hummingbirds
showed up and hovered next to the pink tape on her poles.

Mid July 2015:
Boat Dotting - The Sport of Making A Boat Into A Little Dot

Most people that boat in
Alaska's Prince William Sound rarely, or ever, leave their
boats. The general attitude is: "I have everything I need
on my boat. So why should I leave the boat and risk losing
contact with my lifeline back to civilization?" I can
understand this boating safety logic.

But my wife and I subscribe
to a different PWS boating philosophy. And that is to
spend as little time on a boat as possible. Tune-up your
anchoring skills, paddle to shore and take off bushwhacking and
peak bagging (and on good summers - skiing) for many hours.
Will this philosophy backfire on us some day? Of course
that's possible. But we have kayaks to chase down a boat
that is dragging an anchor (hasn't happened yet). And we
carry a sat phone just in case (but I hope to never use it).

So contrary to most boaters
in PWS, we play the sport of "boat dotting". Anchor your
boat, head off hiking and see how small of a dot in the distance
you can make your boat. Several "boat dotting" pictures are
shown below ...

On a recent hike in the
Talkeetna Mountains, I found something I've found a lot over the
years ... balloon trash. People often let balloons float
off and they eventually end up ... well, anywhere and
everywhere. I've found errant balloons while hiking,
climbing, fishing, kayaking, boating, beach combing,
snowmobiling and mushing (sled dogs sure like to pop balloons
they find on the trail). I've also found a number of
radiosondes,
the balloons the National Weathe service releases to obtain
meteorological data.

Balloon trash is a world-wide
problem. As
this web site says: "Balloons are the only item people buy
to actually create litter." The world record for a balloon
release was 1,592,744 balloons released at one time by Disney in 1994. Sounds
more like a world littering record.

I pack dead balloon litter out when I find it. But I
wish I found less of it. But then again, I wouldn't mind
finding a
Korean Choco Pie balloon!

Balloon trash in the Talkeetna
Mountains. Where's the rest of the balloon? In a
ground squirrel's or marmot's stomach?

An
Alaskan Bush Company balloon found
by Ranger on a beach in Prince William Sound (100 miles from
this strip club).

June 2015:
A Different World In Prince William Sound This Summer

My wife and I seem to do most of
our hiking and
peak bagging in Prince William Sound these days. The
reasons: it's a beautiful, remote, unique and diverse place and
because you don't run into people when you're hiking out there.

But because of a record low snow year and long
stretches of hot and dry weather, PWS is much different than it
normally* is this time of year. (* Though I'm not sure what normal
weather is any more). The high ridges that I like
to hike and ski during late spring and early summer, have been snow-sparse since early May. These
places that I have skied in June and July are now dry as a bone.
Also, my wife and I have been hiking steep routes that would be nearly
un-doable in most years, do to wet surfaces and slippery
vegetation. Strange summer, based on the past, but it's
still Prince William Sound ... so all is good.

Hiking terrain this year that in
past years would likely have been too wet, steep and slippery to
be safe.

Hiking on ridges this time of year
that are normally covered with lots of snow.

Coastal forest is some of AK's most
challenging bushwhacking. But once you get experienced in
route choice, you can cover a lot of ground.

While on a recent scramble up
Ptarmigan Peak, I noticed how little water was in the Ptarmigan
Tarn. And it's only June. I remember years when this little lake was full and
bordered by walls of snow (avalanche debris) in mid-summer.
Could this be a summer (perhaps the first?) that this lake goes
dry?

22 June 2015:
"I'm Tom Bodett for Motel 6, And We'll Leave the Light On For
You"

Tom Bodett used to live in
Homer, Alaska, where he worked building houses. Then
Tom got the Motel 6 spokesman gig and moved on. I was
biking at Hillside recently and thought of Tom. It was a
clear blue, 70 degree F. day just after solstice. The sun
was glaring overhead during this time of 24 hour light (24 hrs
when you include civil twilight). I remember that Tom
would always end his Motel 6 ads with: "I'm Tom Bodett for Motel
6, and we'll leave the light on for you." Well, someone
decided to leave some ski trail lights on for us at Hillside.
As in ... on all summer. Is Tom Bodett back in Anchorage
now and working at Parks and Rec? Did Tom leave these
lights on?

A ski trail light burns during the
day after solstice, when we have 24 hours of light.

You gotta laugh. For over 30
years, the muni hasn't been able to figure out how to turn on
all the Hillside trail lights in the winter. And they
can't figure out how to turn them all off in the summer.
Instead of doing this for the next 30 years, maybe the best
thing is to just disconnect the lights for good. Headlamps
these days are cheap and powerful and people can figure out how
to turn them off in the summer. Plus, the muni could save
money by not competing with the sun during summer months.

Early June 2015:
Another Season Of The Scratching Post Cam

Last fall I posted a number
of game camera images of bears scratching themselves on a corner
post of my wife's and my remote cabin (scroll down on this web
page to see them). Here are some shots from early 2015.
(Note: The year is not correct on these images. They are
all 2015 images. Apparently I need to start re-setting the
date correctly when I change the batteries on these game
cameras).

Back scratch

Belly rub and face scratch

Climb and sniff

Night scratch

Oh yeah! Now I get why you
bears like this post!

Gawd! This scratching post
stinks!

New this year, the ski trail cam ...

Healthy
moose

Skinny
moose

Black
bear

Fox, with
something in its mouth

Late April 2015:What
Made These Tracks?

Before reading further ...
take a guess. What made the tracks in the above picture?

I was skiing in the Talkeetna
Mountains and happened upon a bunch of tracks in the snow that looked odd.
The snow was beat down into trails and it looked like something
had been dragged over the trails. And all of the trails
went to the same spot ... an open spot of a mostly snow-covered
stream.

Then I realized what the
trails were. They were beaver trails. Mountain
beaver trails. They were trails that beavers were using to
travel to willow stands, chew down the trees and drag them back
to their den. In the above picture you can make out the
beaver's foot prints. And you can see the scratch marks in
the snow made by willow branches.

A few willow trees were in the
process of being dragged to the beaver den.

A nice clean "beaver-cut".

I grabbed a few willows that had
been
cut by the beavers and delivered them to their doorstep.

Early April 2015:What Country's Flag Is This?

So, what country's flag is
this?

Take a
guess! Don't keep reading to find out. Take a guess!

OK, 5 percent of you got the
right answer. But the other 95 percent of you were likely
clueless, just like I was when I saw this flag on a recent ski trip.

I was finishing up a ski trip
at the Lake Louise Lodge near Glennallen, Alaska. Near the
lodge was a group of 6 to 8 people standing in a circle around a
snowmobile. The people all had on matching black jackets
and pants. And the snowmobile was black. I quickly
got curious as to who these people were. Para-rescue folks
in training?
EPA agents that had just stepped out of a black helicopter?

My curiosity quickly got the
best of me and I asked one of the black-coated guys, that was
wearing a beret, where they were from and what they were doing.

The guy looked at me with a
bit of a shocked look. And then he pointed to the flag on
the sleeve of his coat (see above). His shocked look
seemed to say "Look at the flag. Don't you know what this
flag is!?" But I couldn't remember what country the flag
represented.

Then the guy said: "Uruguay!
We are from Uruguay!"

Geez, how could I have not
recognized the Uruguayan flag! ;-)

Come to find out this was a
group of tourists from Uruguay starting out a 6 day guided
snowmobile trip. You could tell they were pumped and
excited about this adventure. I would find out later that
it was the first time some of them had seen snow. And I'd
learn that the tour leader let them open it up on Lake Louise at
the end of the trip, and they were hitting 90 mph. So who
knows, maybe the Uruguayan snowmobile speed record was set on
that trip!

Early April 2015:
Skiing, And Making Lots of Friends, In "Red Country" Alaska

Some of the best ski trails
in Alaska, in my opinion, are in "red country" Alaska.
These are places where the words "cross country skier"
usually elicit bad images in the minds of most of the people
that live or recreate in these areas. "Tree huggin', Prius-drivin',
liberal, Greenpeace, Sierra Club, eco-greenie extremists" is what xc skiers are labeled on
the spot by the vast majority of folks that you encounter in
these rural areas.

But the funny thing is, this
Anchorage cross country skier loves "red country"
Alaska. I spend way more
time skiing in "red country" than "blue country". And I've
got way more friends in rural "red country" Alaska than
in "blue",
urban Alaska.

How can this be? Well,
it's pretty simple. I listen, I learn, I respect, I do.
I listen to people in rural areas more than I talk to them.
I try to learn about their views and why they have their views.
I respect their opinions. And I do the stuff they do, so I
can easily relate to whatever comes up in conversation.
Snowmobiling, building cabins, fixing stuff, commercial fishing,
oil industry, boating, mushing, Alaska travel, remote
living, working hard, playing hard ... I can talk for hours to
anyone in "red country" about anything. Plus it also helps
that I grew up in the boonies on a small dairy farm. My
roots are in "red country".

But navigating the social
channels of "red country" Alaska has had its moments.

A few years ago I walked into
a Susitna Valley lodge, dressed in sweaty ski clothes, to get some food
and water. I was a lone skier in a sea of snowmobilers.
Before long, a heavy-set snowmobiler with a beer in front of him
said: "Hey, are you that Kelley cross country skier guy?"
I smiled, but the hair on the back of my neck perked up as I
looked at the large group of tough-ass snowmobiler dudes sitting
next to him. "Yup, that would be me" I responded. Then
the guy said: "I've checked out your web site." There was
a pregnant pause. I felt my arm pit sweat pores start to
loosen up. I took a deep breath and braced for what could be coming. He
then continued: "You're the only cross country skier I've ever
known that was worth a shit!" Then he turned to his
buddies and started talking about my ski trips up the North
Ridge of Mount Susitna snowmobile trail. Out of relief, I laughed to
myself. And soon we were all introducing each other,
shaking hands and shooting the bull and joking about anything and
everything. When I walked out of the door we were all good buddies.
And we still are.

A long time ago it seemed
that long "red country" ski trip distances came easy, but the
interactions with people in the Alaskan boonies were not that
easy. But over time the distances have became a little
harder, yet the connections to Alaskan "red country" people now
come effortlessly. Maybe I've gained personal interaction
skills over the decades? Or maybe it's simply that I've
become one of them, which is fine with me.

Some parts of Alaska have a tendency
towards preconceived opinions of cross country skiers.

Long-haired, tree-hugging xc skier?
Or camo-wearing redneck skier? What matters is that you
can relate to and get along easily with anyone in Alaska.

Late March 2015:
Strange Snow

I was skiing the Eureka -
John Lake Trail and came across a patch of "strange" snow.
The shape and hue of the snow was odd, as you can see from these
pictures. If you expand the picture below, you will see
some disturbed snow, that looks normal. This tracked area
gives contrast to the odd snow lumps and shows that no digital
tweaks were made to this photo.

Mid March 2015:
Wondering What To Do With Your Old Cross Country Skis?

Mid March 2015:
Helping Out A Former UAF XC Skier, That Was Screwed By The
Iditarod

I recently donated to the
Attitude Is
Everything gofundme campaign for Brent Sass. Why would
an old(ish), cheap-ass, cross country skier like me give money
to a young dog musher? Because Brent got incredible
screwed (financially, philosophically and professionally) by the
Iditarod race marshal and judges during the early stages of this
year's Iditarod. I don't need to rehash the details, they
are all over the web. Here is a
good opinion article about Brent's undue punishment.
Brent, a former UAF cross country ski racer, and his team won
the Yukon Quest this year. Hopefully Brent and his dogs
pull off a win in the Iditarod in the near future. Go
Wild and Free!

Mid March 2015:
How To Dress For Combat Skiing At Glen Alps In Anchorage

Tip:
When skiing at Glen Alps, wear many layers of clothes.
Warm temps, cold temps ... no difference, wear many layers of
clothes.

Why wear multiple layers?

To keep dog teeth from
penetrating deep into your flesh.

The picture above shows a dog
bite on my leg. It was from a dog that a young woman was
ski-joring with. Well, the dog was ski-joring ... until it
decided it would be more fun to attack my leg. The
bite would have been a lot worse bite if I didn't have knee-high
thermal socks, ski tights and over pants. These clothing
layers kept a scrape wound from becoming a puncture wound.
Glad I was wearing three layers!

"But Tim, wouldn't it just be better to avoid getting bit by
dogs in the first place? Then you could dress in less layers.
Right?"

Yes, of course that would be
best. I was able to avoid dog bites for 55 years of
skiing. And I've been skiing at Glen Alps for 30 years,
with no dog issues. But times have changed. And
there are many, many more clueless and irresponsible dog owners, who are
unknowingly dangerous people, recreating at Glen Alps these
days. So good luck to you, or to mammals that you love,
trying to staty dog bite-free at the modern day
Glen Alps. I'll be wearing body armor the next time I ski
at Glen Alps.

A
heads-up for parents taking young kids to Glen Alps: The
dog bite I got on my leg was the same height off the ground as
the face of a kid riding in a sled. This time the bite was
on the leg of a crusty old cross country skier. Where, and
on who, will
the next bite be?

Mid March 2015:
From Crust Skiing to Rock Skipping, What a Difference a Decade
Makes

Portage Pass - 2004

Portage Pass - 2006

Portage Pass - 2015

Beach hiking and skipping rocks at Portage Lake in
March. Not as fun as crust
skiing on Portage Lake in April (but not this April).

Portage
Pass 1964 Military Helicopter Crash Wreckage

Skiers traveling
between Portage Lake and Portage Pass probably don't
realize they are skiing near, or occasionally over, old
wreckage of a military helicopter. I didn't know
this crash site existed until my wife pointed it out as
we were hiking the trail from the lake back up to the
pass. This wreckage is rarely seen because during
normal winters, it is buried under snow. And
during summers it is buried under alders. It's
visible this winter due to lack of snow and, of course,
lack of leaves.

On April 29, 1964 an H-21 helicopter crashed here in bad
weather. Six people that were on board died. For
information about this crash, search for "Portage
Glacier" on
this
web page.

Additional information from Steve Gruhn:
"The aircraft was returning from a mission to aid the
Whittier victims of the Good Friday earthquake, which
occurred about a month earlier. Co-piloting the
aircraft was Chief Warrant Officer Robert L. Maynard,
for whom [nearby] Maynard Mountain was named in 1965."

1964 helicopter crash
wreckage.

The crash site is about half
way down the trail from the pass to the lake, on the
downhill side of the trail, ~100 feet from the trail.

Early March 2015:
Siberians, The Wood Skis of Sled Dogs

I was
skiing out of Willow recently and saw two dog teams coming
towards me in the distance. Quickly something registered
to me about these dog teams. They were slow. The
dogs were beautiful. But they were really slow compared to
most dog teams.

When it comes to dog teams,
I know my slow. I actually consider myself an expert on slow
dog teams. My wife and I once had a recreational dog team
of 5 Malamutes that I called: "The Biggest, The Baddest and The
Slowest Dog Team In Alaska." We loved our dogs with all of
our hearts, but they were never in a hurry ... and were really,
really slow.

So why, in
the world of super-fast Iditarod superdogs, would someone want
to race the Iditarod with "Slowberians"? The reasons are
probably the same for why someone would want to jump in a bike
race with a 1970's double-butted, brazed steel frame Colnago.
Or why someone would want to ski a marathon race these days on
wood skis.

Late February 2015:
During Bad Snow Years, Do Skiers Need Fat Bikes For Backup
Training?

The short: No.

The long: Needless to say, in
Southcentral Alaska it has been a dismal winter for trail
skiing, whether on in-town groomers or out of town backcountry
trails. Gotta say, it's the worst winter for xc skiing I
can remember in Alaska. But holy crap ... has it been some
good biking this winter! Especially on the winter single
track trails in Anchorage.

I've biked
more this winter than any winter before. What gets me out
biking is the massive amount of cool single track winter bike
trails in Far North Bicentennial Park. When I am in town
and lose enthusiasm for skiing the same icy loops over and over,
I grab my bike and rip into our frozen single tracks.

So if I'm
winter biking, I must have a fat bike, right? Nope.
I don't own one. All of my biking is on a 29'er with
Nokian 2 inch studded tires.

Fat bikes
are cool. But I've never gotten one for a simple reason:
fat bikes are made for the same snow conditions that are good
for skiing. When the snow is good for skiing, why would I
want to bike? I'm a skier. If I had a fat bike I
wouldn't be riding it when the conditions were right for fat
biking. Because I would be skiing. I don't need toys
that I don't use a lot.

The icy
single track trails we've had all over Anchorage this winter are
actual dangerous on a fat bike, unless you have studded tires.
But if you need studded tires on a fat bike, it means the
conditions are such that you really don't need a fat bike.
All you need is a pair of studded tires for your mountain bike.
For $250 you can get a pair of
Nokian studded tires and you've got winter biking covered
when the skiing goes bad. I'm certainly not the first
skier to figure this out. Seems like a bunch of my peers
have gone this route too.

I
definitely don't have anything against fat bikes or fat bikers.
We're all family when it comes to winter trails. If you
want to try out the world of fat biking - by all means, buy a
fat bike from some of the great bike shops in Anchorage (if you
live near here). And have fun! But if you just want
to race around on hard, icy and fun trails when the skiing goes
bad ... pick up some studded tires for your mountain bike, and
you should be good to go.

From Facebook ... an Alaskan
dude, gone goofy from lack of snow, in Clam Gulch, AK on
February 20, 2015. (photo: Steve Holmes)

Also from Facebook ... 25th of
February in Homer, AK, and temps pushing 60 degrees F.
Beautiful weather. But wrong, very wrong. (photo:
Alan Turkington)

Early February 2015:
Quick and Easy "Ad Hoc" Trail Making In The Susitna Valley

Often winter trails in the
bush of Alaska follow river channels. But to do this you
usually have to go down a river bank to get onto the river, and
go up a river bank to get off the river. With lots of
snow, and some wind, Mother Nature usually makes a snow drift
ramp that makes scaling and descending river banks safe, and
even possible.

But with
snow-sparse winters like the one we are having, snow ramps on
river banks are non-existent. Because of this, some
traditional river bank accesses on trails are too dangerous to
use. So a quick reroute of the trail to a safer river bank
must be done.

Along the
Big Susitna River, and along many other glacier fed rivers in
Alaska, making new trails is fairly easy. You just point a
snowmobile into a big stand of riparian willows and hit the
throttle. The first few passes are kind of messy.
But with enough traffic, the trail smoothes out well. Yes,
the trail is only a snowmobile-width wide, and you want to
listen before you enter the trail on skis. But out here
there is not much traffic, so the chance of trail conflicts is
minimal.

Such trails
are actually quite "enviro-friendly". The root system of
the willows remains intact and new shoots of willow, because
they grow so fast, will be nearly the same height next fall.
Plus, moose like these trails for easy access to some of their
favorite winter food.

We sure have a wide spectrum of trail building costs in
Southcentral, Alaska. If I'm not mistaken, the new(ish)
Nordic trails in Girdwood cost over $50,000 per kilometer to
build. And seemingly countless big virgin hemlock trees
were cut down to make the Girdwood trails. These Susitna
river trails might cost 50 cents per kilometer to make.
And in a year, you won't even know they were there.

It's also funny how some Alaskan cross
country skiers get more excited about skiing on trails that cost
50 cents per kilometer ... rather than skiing on trails that
cost 50 thousand dollars per kilometer.

Early February 2015:
They Need To Sell These Mugs At The Kincaid Park Chalet

It's been cold with no wind
the last few days in Anchorage. I tried to ski at Kincaid
Park last night. Bad decision. Didn't make it long
before I got a headache from the jet fuel fumes from the airport. A
temperature inversion has settled over Anchorage, and with no wind,
it
makes for nasty and unhealthy air conditions. These
conditions happen frequently during the coldest days of the winter at
Kincaid Park.

It's pretty
amazing, that the air can get so bad at Kincaid that you can
taste the jet fumes in your mouth ...yet at the same time there
is an endless stream of cars driven by parents heading out to
drop their Jr. Nordic kiddo's off to ski in this incredibly polluted air.
No parenting medals are being handed out on these days.

Here's
a radical idea ... when the air you breath at Kincaid is stinky,
toxic, full of carcinogens, giving you headaches, making you gag
on the taste of gas and is likely
making people sick - go ski somewhere else. Jr. Nordic organizers
should change venues on bad air days. Move the ski classes somewhere else that is a long ways
from the airport ... like to Hillside or Russian Jack's.
This would be a smart and responsible decision, and in the best
interest of health for the kids.

Early February 2015:
The Secret Race ... For Strange Wood

While recently at our cabin,
I finished reading Tyler Hamilton's book: "The Secret Race". I had
read bits and pieces of the Lance Armstrong and pro bike racer
doping sagas, but this book put all the pieces together.
And did it with great detail. A good read.

I did crack up when I read
the last few paragraphs of the "Afterward" chapter. Tyler
says that he does not race, or even ride a bike much, these days.
He instead hikes and runs with his wife. And while he is
out in the woods ... he now has an obsession with collecting
strange and oddly-shaped pieces of wood and making stuff out of
it.

Ha! What kind of person
would have an obsession like that ?!!! --
hint --

Skiing on the lower Big Susitna River
recently. Skied by a log jam and found a spruce burl.

Update:
I couldn't decide what to make out of this burl. I figured
the coolest thing about this burl is its disproportionality.
The burl is abnormally large relative to the branch it is on.
So in the end I decided to make an art piece out of it.
The base is a birch burl (that I also found while skiing).

Mid January 2015:
The Death Of Pay Phones. The Birth Of Trail Markers.

Now that pay phones are are
all but extinct, what do you do with old pay phone booths?
The folks that have cabins in the remote Safari Lake area north
of the Petersville Road think they should be recycled. And
used as trail markers!

"When the trail gets you over the next two ridges, and you reach
the end of a big swamp, take a left at the phone booth."

Safari Lake cabin folks are ingenious and
resourceful ... and they
sure have a good sense of humor.

Early January 2015:
Back At It ... Burl Hunting

Last year I posted on this
blog some info about the
obscure ski-sport of burl hunitng. This year I've been
hunting birch burls, a type of burl I have never worked with
before (have always worked with spruce burls in the past).

The way this works is that you go out skiing
and find the burls. Of course, you need to make sure the
burls you find are on property where you are allowed to harvest
them. Then you go back with a chainsaw and
remove the viral growth on the tree that is the burl. Once
removed, you coat the area you cut on the tree with pruning tar,
which is much like the pine tar that us older kids once used
to prep our ski bases. Coating the cut protects the tree from water
damage and insect attack.

The next steps are to peel the burl and rough
out the shape of the bowl, or whatever you are making. By
roughing out the shape, you make the thicknesses of the piece a
bit more uniform so it will all dry at the same rate, and
hopefully not form cracks. Once roughed out, the burls are
put in a box of sawdust and stored in a cool and dry place for 6
months ... so they will dry slowly. In 6 months, if the
pieces don't have any major cracks ... then they can be carved
into the finished product.

Several recently harvested birch
burls.

The birch burls after they were
peeled.

Roughed-out birch burls, ready to be
packed in sawdust and slowly dried for 6 months.

Late December 2014:Old
Skis Live An Exciting Life ... Next To A Bear Scratching Post

Near a corner of our cabin, a
pair of old Northlund wooden skis are mounted, and they are shown in most
of the pictures below. These skis get a close-up view of
the action at our "bear scratching and rubbing post",
also know as the
corner of our cabin. For some reason, local bears cherish
this corner post for stops to rub and massage themselves.
Black bears, brown (grizzly) bears, big sows and triplet cubs
all make stops at the bear pole. I set up a game camera to
catch some of the action. Recently we were at our cabin
and I retrieved pictures from the last few months. Here
are a few pictures (seriously, this is a just small fraction of
the pictures!). Click on any of the images below to expand
it.

A HUGE momma brownie standing in
front of our cabin, like she owns the place.

Here they come!

The little pole dancing bear: "Do a little
dance. Make a little love. Get down tonight!
Get down tonight!"

"What the heck? Is that
little box taking my picture or something?!"

"Geez, I can't even do one pull-up!
I gotta eat more moose!"

"Feels sooo good! Oh yeah! Oh ... yeah
...!"

A worried mom, with her hands full.

"Guys! Check out this post!
It smells like stinky brown bears!"

"Guys! Check out this post!
It smells like stinky black bears!"

"Aw come on mom! Back off!
It's my turn!"

If it feels good, raise your paw.

"I love this place! Maybe when
I get bigger I can move in upstairs!"

I like this one: "Ouch! I hit
my head on that damn log!"

If it feels good, raise your paw.

In Alaska, humans are not at the top
of the food chain. Not even close.

Previous cam images showed that this
bear breathed on the lens and fogged it up.

"It's been a long day. Gotta
get some sleep under MY cabin."

"No one up here to scare.
Let's go down to the creek and see if we can scare the shit out
of some fishermen."

"Mom! Come back! And
watch me do a back flip off this post!"

"Nice to get under MY cabin and
shake the rain out of my fur!"

"Ahh .. it feels good to have a
break from killing things and hug my post. I love my post!"

Late December 2014:
A Message From: skraP etatS aksalA

Hint: Click on the above picture if
you can't read it.

Per the memo (left picture), here is a
legally installed 2015 parking sticker, as seen from outside of
the windshield. Not easy for park rangers to read, that's
for sure.

Late December 2014:
Skiing While Pulling A Sled Is Hip Again, So Says Google

Late December 2014:
Memories Sold

It was time
to pass on stuff we had either not used in a long time, our dog
sled, or planned on not using, a snowmobile. Thanks to
craigslist, these items quickly landed in new and happy hands.
Hopefully the new owners will have as many good adventures with
these items as we did.

You may have seen this dog
sled in a few pictures on this web site. It was the dog
sled my wife and I would use with our 5 Malamutes. We put
many miles of mushing and "ski-mushing" (see above right
picture) on this sled. The sled had not been used in over
10 years, since the last of our buddies passed away. It
was emotionally tough selling this sled. But dog sleds
aren't made to hang in a shed forever. They are made to
make life fun for people and dogs.

Now our sled is owned by two
Iditarod mushers in Knik. They will be using it as a
training sled to save wear and tear on their expensive race
sleds. Hopefully it works out well for Charley Bejna and
Anna Berington. Anna said there is a chance this dog sled
may be in the ceremonial start of the Iditarod this year.
For the ceremonial start, mushers use larger sleds that they can
carry paying passengers, Idita-riders, in for the trip from 4th
Avenue to the BLM landing strip. That would be cool if
this sled is used for this purpose. I don't think a dog sled has ever been used in
the Iditarod that was once regularly pulled by a skier (who was
very happy to be part of a wonderful Malamute dog team).

Update: Our old
sled did end up being used in the ceremonial start of the 2015
Iditarod. The picture above shows the sled, which was used
as a second "speed-reducer" sled for Charley Bejna's team, at
the finish of the ceremonial leg of the Iditarod.

I also sold our Polaris
WideTrak snowmobile. This was another emotional sale.
I loved this beast. But I got the inkling to upgrade, and
I don't need two beasts now. This snowmobile appears a
bunch of times on this web site. It was used for ski trip
support a lot, and of course, for travel to our cabin.
Lots of furniture in our house is made from burled logs this
beast hauled out of the boonies for us. And ... this was
the snowmobile that appeared quite a few years ago in a silly
viral YouTube video about a cross country skier stealing a
hotdog from a hotdog cooker inside a snowmobile (see above right
picture). A hotdog
cooker won't fit on my new snowmobile, so we (and other skiers)
will miss the succulent caribou hotdogs this snowmobile cooked
on its muffler for us.

Mid December 2014:
Anchorage Ski Trail Grooming, 30+ Years Ago

I sometimes
look on ebay for historical pictures that might be good for the
Alaska Lost Ski Areas Project web site (www.alsap.org).
Recently I noticed this xc skiing-related picture that was for
sale on ebay. It's a
picture of Eric Tikka and his grooming equipment in 1983.
In earlier times, the Anchorage Nordic Ski Club (now the NSAA)
did not own their own grooming equipment. Instead, they
contracted out the trail grooming services. In the early
80's, Eric Tikka, a member of the prodigious Anchorage ski
racing Tikka family,
was the track-setting contractor. Besides being a good
guy, the tracks he set were always well done because he was a
ski racer himself. I believe Eric set the tracks for the
1983 World Cup race that was held in Anchorage. So, Eric
likely set tracks for the highest caliber xc ski race that's
ever been held in Anchorage.

Former xc ski racer and Anchorage
Nordic Ski Club contract groomer Eric Tikka, and his grooming
equipment, in 1983

Mid December 2014:Know
Your Bungees, Or Someone Else Might End Up With Your Stuff

For years I
have picked bungee cords up on winter trails. Now I must
have 50 or so of them in a box in my garage. I have all
these free bungee cords because people use them wrong.

Bungee
cords work okay if they hold down a stationary load. But
once the load starts moving, wiggling or bouncing - bungee cords
are destined to fail. The hooks bend, break or come loose,
elasticity is lost in the cold, the bungee becomes unattached
and often the load falls off soon thereafter.

I remember
once mushing our dogs and coming across a bungee cord. And
then another bungee cord. And then a cooler that had
fallen of the back of a snowmobile and spilled out a bunch of
turkey sub sandwiches onto the trail. Our five Malamutes
sure loved that find. And the funny thing is, when the
dogs noticed lost bungee cords on the trail after that incident,
their ears would perk up and they would pick up the pace.
Because they just knew that bungee cords meant turkey sandwiches
were soon to be found down the trail!

So when it
comes to tying down loads on snowmobiles, snowmobile sleds,
freight sleds, kayaks on boats, kayaks on car racks or anything
of value that can shift in shape or position while traveling ...
never use bungee cords. It's better to use compression
straps on rigid items and bungee rope on items that can compress
or move.

Bungee rope
is great. It's strong and works well in the cold.
And it's easy to make bungee rope tie downs. Buy 12 to 16
feet of 3/8 inch (1/4 inch is too weak, 1/2 inch is too thick
for good knots) bungee rope from a hardware store (like AIH in
Anchorage) and then tie a double figure eight knot in one end.
Fasten the loop first and then pull and cinch the bungee rope
around your cargo and tie it off where necessary.

A recent find of yet another bungee
cord (Old Hunter Trail in Willow).

(Left) a bungee rope tie down with
double figure eight loop knot, (right) bungee rope ready to be
converted to tie dows, (bottom) some of the many bungee cords I
have picked up on trails.

Bungee rope being used to tie a ski
bag and a gear bag onto a snowmobile.

Compression straps are good for
static loads, like these propane tanks. In the background
you can see bungee rope in use to tie down a ski bag and fuel
tanks and shovel on the back of a snowmobile.

Bungee rope is strong. It can
tie down an injured snowmobile (broken suspension shock) to a
freight sled. Yep, that was a bad day. Luckily such
days are few and far between.

Update:
Recently I made a simple ski rack for my new snowmobile using an
aluminum bar and ball bungees.

Mid December 2014:
Warped Soles On Brand New Salomon Pro Combis ... Not Good

I use combi
boots quite a lot for early season trail skiing. They are
a good deal when you don't know if the ski route you will be
doing will be classic, skating or a mix.

I've owned
several pairs of Salomon Pro Combis over the years. This
year I got a new pair. I was happy to see that the tongue
flap
was once again semi-breathable in these new-gen Pro Combis.
The last generation had an air-tight vinyl-covered tongue flap that
didn't let any moisture pass out of the boot. So the old boots
were very clammy. I was also happy to see that the pointed
tongue stiffener, that would dig into your toes when you classic
skied, was gone. This had been a problem since 2008 or so.
I always had to cut the tips of the tongue stiffeners off in
previous Pro Combi boots.

But my
opinion of these ski boots went downhill when I took them for a
ski.

When I
first skied in these boots, I noticed my right boot was not
setting over the footplate squarely. I figured that the
binding on my right ski was not aligned correctly, so I switched
skis. But same thing, my right ski boot would often not
settle over the footplate properly.

When I got
home I clipped my left boot into a ski and looked at the
footplate to ski boot channel alignment. It was fine.
Then with the same ski, I clipped in the right boot. Sure
enough the boot was warped and not aligning with the footplate
(see pictures below).

So, I've
got a brand new pair of Salomon ski boots ... that are
defective. Great. And people wonder why I buy 15
year old ski boots off of ebay and ski in them. Hmmm ...
maybe I do this because 15 years ago Salomon had much better
quality control than they do today. Yep, that's the
reason. Unfortunately they didn't make RS9 combi boots
back in the day. So I'm stuck with having to buy modern
day junk for combi boots.

Anyone want
to buy a pair of Salomon Pro Combi ski boots, size 10.5 US?
Near new condition, only been used once. (And will probably
never be used again).

Lesson
learned: Before buying a pair of ski boots, always take and hold
ski boots sole to sole to make sure the boot channels line up
and the boot soles are not warped. I did not do this
because I bought the ski boots off the Internet. I didn't
buy these boots at my favorite local ski shop because they do
not carry this model of Salomon ski boots. From this bad
experience, I'm through buying Salomon ski boots off the
Internet. If I ever buy new Salomon ski boots again, it
will be a hands-on purchase.

2014 Salomon Pro Combi ski
boots.

With the same ski (and the
same binding, of course) - the left boots aligns correctly with
the footplate. But the right boot is warped badly and does
not align with the footplate.

Update:
I used a knife to cut out some of the problem boot's binding
plate channel so it fit n the footplate better. It works a
little better now.

But here is the bottom line:
the soles of these boots are too sloppy. Way, way too
flexible, to the point they make the boots pretty much
worthless.

If the
2008-2011 soles were used for these boots, they'd be fine.
These 2014 boots have an improved upper (see notes above).
But it seems cheap not to add a Velcro fastener tab to the
tongue like most all Salomon xc ski boots have. However
the sloppy soles are the showstopper with these boots.
They make for missed footplate channel connections on rough
trails. And the tendons on the tops of your feet get sore
due to the extra work needed to keep a ski on edge when skating.

I'm going to be using carbon sole stiffener
plates to make these boots more usable. But I shouldn't
have to do this. My recommendation: Look elsewhere, don't
buy these Solomon combi boots.

Late November 2014:
Anchorage BLM Campbell Creek "Critter Cam" Images

These brown
bear photos were taken by a Bureau of Land Management Alaska
game camera along Campbell Creek in Anchorage, AK. They
were taken during the early morning on November 16th. The
bear was hanging out along the creek eating spawned-out salmon.
So, if you were skiing the early snow we had then on the gas
line trail at Hillside, you were probably less than a mile from
this big guy. If you were biking the Rover's Run trail
that night, perhaps you were 100 yards from him/her. Check
out the rightmost picture below and look at the claws.
These pictures show that you are often closer to real Alaska in
Anchorage than you may suspect.

Normally
when the snow gods are not delivering the goods to skiers in
Anchorage, the usual course of action is to burn an offering of
skis, pray to Ullr or maybe find bear dens, crawl in them and
wake the bears up. Because damn it, if we can't ski you
stupid bears shouldn't be able to sleep! Okay, maybe I got
carried away on that last one ... just a little no-snow stress
showing itself.

Or
sometimes we take the ugly route, like throwing stuff and
screaming and swearing at the TV when Jackie Purcell, the KTUU
weather lady, comes on and says it won't be snowing for the next
week. "Damn you Jackie, what do you f*ing mean it's not
going to snow!"

But ya
know, the snow gods see all of these desperate actions on our
part. And when they see this stuff they laugh at us.
And then they decide to mess with us even more, and delay snow
for a few more days, or weeks, or ... Yeah, the snow gods
can be sick jerks at times.

So you have
to fight back with reverse psychology. You have to make the
snow gods think you don't give a damn if there is no snow or
not. You should do summer things in the winter. Like
mowing your yard. And when you are doing it yell out stuff
like: "Hey this is awesome! I love mowing my yard in the
middle of the winter! Whoo hoo! Sure hope it doesn't
snow this winter!"

He he!
That really will get the snow gods attention. It will piss
them off. And then they will conspire to "punish" us with
huge snow storms. Yep, reverse logic is the ticket.

I tried
this reverse psychology last winter (see picture below). It kinda worked. Not too long after I mowed my yard in
January we got snow. Today I found out that Malamute man
Bob Sutherland, the renown NSAA ski tour leader, was performing
his own yard-mowing trickery on the snow gods. If it snows
within the next week or two ... it will all be thanks to Bob!

But hey,
keep quiet and don't talk out loud about this to anyone.
Cuz if the snow gods ever hear that we are trying to dupe them
... then we Anchorage skiers will really, really be screwed!

Me performing reverse psychology on the
snow gods last winter.

Bob Sutherland recently gives snow
god reverse psychology a try.

Update:
Four days after Bob did the snow god trickery lawn mowing ... we
got enough snow to ski! Ha ha ... the snow gods are pretty
easy to fool. Yep, Bob sure scored one on Ullr! But
shhhhhh ... don't talk about this, can't let the snow gods know
that Bob pulled a fast one on them. If you see Bob and his
malamutes on the Powerline Pass Trail, give him a thumbs up and
mouth the words: "Thank you Bob!"

Late November 2014:
A Sign Of Ghosts At Kincaid Park!

Whoa!
Looks like the ghosts of Kincaid have been active! On a
recent bike ride I noticed ghosts had resurrected a ghostly sign
of the past.

Late November 2014:
The Shady Business of Early Season Snow

The short: If there are no
low-snow places to ski in Anchorage, the local xc ski season is
shorter (and life sucks when you can't ski). In other
words, and explained below: No shade, no snow. No snow, no
skiing.

The long: To be able to ski
in low-snow conditions, like we quite often encounter in
Southcentral, Alaska, you need what little snow you have to
last. If exposure to sun and wind quickly melts the snow
on your ski trails, your skiing window will be shortened.
Narrow and wooded trails help shade and wind-protect ski trails
and allow the snow to last longer, and for you to ski for a
longer period of time.

But should you make such trails wide instead, with little shade
or wind protection, you will not be able to ski as long on these
trails during periods of low snow. So, you don't
want all of your ski trails to be super-wide. A balance of
old (narrow) with new (wide) trails are needed to cover a wider
spectrum of snow conditions, and ensure that you have somewhere
to ski when there is little snow.

Having
local low-snow skiing venues is important. However, in the
past 30 years we have lost a number of low-snow venues in
Anchorage:

The Glen Alps to Powerline and back 2 km loop was often a
mainstay for poor snow years. As this loop was shaded by
the brush that lined it and was perpendicular to the wind,
drifting snow would be caught here. And so skiing would be
possible on this small loop even when the main Powerline Trail
was wind-scoured bare. UAA held many time trials on this
loop. But recently a parking lot and access road was built
on part of this loop and this low-snow loop was lost.

There used
to be a 2 km
loop above the Glen Alps parking lot on a patch of tundra.
Flattop Mountain shaded this cold location and it didn't see
direct sunlight from late October through January. Great
for making a thin snowpack last. Some years this would be
the only place you could ski in Anchorage, for up to two months.
But warmer temps have caused brush to grow heavy in this area and it
is no longer ski-able.

The
Moose Run
golf course on Fort Richardson used to be a great low-snow
venue. The Alaska state high school championships were
once held here on a few inches of snow. In the 80's
Chevron Cup citizen races were held here (I remember racing in
them). But when the Army outsourced the operations of this
golf course in the 90's, skiing has since been banned here.

Kincaid,
the Jodphur lighted loop in particular, used to be a great
early-season and low-snow venue. Then 20 years ago, the spruce
bark beetles came to town. The beetles ravaged Kincaid and
killed most all of the dense mature white spruce that grew
there. Trails through the old Kincaid forest were once
shaded, dark and cold. Perfect for preserving snow.
But when the spruce trees were lost to the beetles, the forest
opened up dramatically. Shade vanished. And wind
protection was lost. Now any snow that falls at Kincaid is
much more vulnerable to the warm Turnagain Arm winds that batter
this part of Anchorage. Because of the loss of forest,
ski-able days at Kincaid are now fewer than in the past.
And usually 2-4 weeks less than at the Hillside trails.

The Spencer
Loop also used to be a good early season ski loop. I even
remember racing in a 15 km APU race that Jim Galanes held on the
Spencer Loop on October 25, 2001. But this year sections
of the trail were widened to meet modern racing requirements.
And in doing this, shade and wind protection was lost. The
impact of this trail widening could already be seen this year.
A small, late-October snowstorm allowed three weeks of skiing on
the lower Hillside Trails, like the Besh Loop and Service
connector. But skiing only lasted one week on the Spencer
Loop, even though it got more snow. Sun and wind took
their toll, quickly. The Spencer Loop has now been lost as
a low-snow loop because of this trail widening.

The trail
widening on the Spencer Loop was a NSAA homogulation project.
Doing this allows the course to be FIS certified for ranking
points. This is an important issue for 1 percent of the
skiers in Anchorage. The other 99% worry more about just
having trails, with snow, to ski on. To the vast majority of
Anchorage xc skiers, ski-able snow is much more important than
FIS points.

It's pretty
funny when you think of all the money and effort that has been
channeled into smooth surfaced, super-wide, homogulated race
course trails in Anchorage. And then you see that not one
of the homogulated trails was ski-able in early November of this
year, when the old-school, cut in the 80's, narrow Lower
Hillside trails were the only place in town you could ski.

Lower
Hillside is one of our last low-snow skiing venues in Anchorage.
These old trails prove that shade and wind-protection are the
keys for providing early season and low-snow skiing. Widen
these old, narrow, dark, shaded and often snowy trails in
the future, and all xc skiers in Anchorage will be getting the
shaft.

The mid-day sun barely filters
through the forest of Lower Hillside trails. Because of
shade and wind protection from this forest, ski-able snow lasts
longer here.

This picture was taken 10 minutes
before the picture on the left. It shows a newly widened
section of the nearby Spencer Loop, now with much less shade and
protection from the wind. Do you notice any difference
in snow coverage?

Mid November 2014:
Post Meltdown, Icy Trail Exercise Options

A few weeks
ago we were living the dream. A mid-fall snowstorm. Trails in
Anchorage came to life. We were skiing every day. It was rock
skiing, but so what. It was skiing, and we are skiers.

Then the
meltdown hit. Rock gardens blossomed on the ski trails. Game
over. Time to return to the exercise rituals of the common folk
(those that donít dream about xc skiing every day). ;-)

So when
your local trails turn to ice, what is the best way to get a
workout in? By ďbest wayĒ, I mean an outdoor cardio activity
that elevates heart-rate, challenges your strength and increases
your fitness.

Primary icy
trail exercise options are running, hiking and biking. Plus,
letís throw Nordic blading into the mix. The best option for
you will of course be driven by your preferences and interests.
But here are some of my thoughts about each of these options.

Running and
hiking on icy trails is an easy option. Get a pair of Ice Bug
spiked-sole shoes, or stud your own shoes, and you are ready to
go. Forget about any traction device that slips or straps onto
your shoes. They might be good for walking, but not for
running. When running at night they always seem to fall off
when you donít realize it. And then whey you really need them
you are surprised they are gone.

Studded
running shoes are great for flats, uphills and gentle downhills.
But on steep ice, like which can form on ski trail hills, they
arenít that good. They are OK, but you often have to gingerly
go down hills so you donít slip. And in doing this you spend
more time than you may want with your heart rate going
low-range. Hiking on icy trails with studded shoes is the
same as running. Going up - no problem. Coming down
- more potential for problems.

Nordic
blading mimics ski skate motions well. This activity can be a
great alternative ski workout when you can't ski. Nordic
blading is great exercise when the skating is good. When the
skating is not good, itís entertainment more than it is
training. To really benefit from training on Nordic blades, you
need to be able to skate with abandon and push yourself. But if
you have to worry about thin ice, cracks in the ice or frozen debris
on the ice surface Ö you spend too much time navigating and too
little time focusing on technique and training level.

Finally we
have biking on iced-over trails. This is a favorite of mine.
During post-meldown, ice periods I do a lot of this. The key
ingredient for this activity is a pair of studded tires for your
mountain bike. Iíve got a pair of Nokia studded tires that work
amazingly well. I also wear my Ice Bugs in case I have to get
off the bike. And I use platform pedals with spikes on them to
keep my feet from slipping off (and so I can use my Ice Bugs
that don't have pedal cleats). You donít need, and probably
donít want, a fatbike to ride ice trails.

With ice
biking, your heart rate can get much higher on hills than with
running, as you often have to push hard or you will tip over or
spin out. And you get the downhills over much faster than
running, so you are onto the next hill before you know it. You
will find that the bumpy single track trails of the summer
smooth out a lot after snow melts into the depressions and
refreezes. The end result are some smooth, fast and fun trails
for ice biking.

All three
of these activities are good options for post meltdown icy
conditions. But alas, none of these options beat skiing.

Recently I
did some "weeding" of my wife's and my ski rack.
And hidden in a
far corner I found a pair of 1977
Lovett racing skis (see picture above). Surprisingly, these
skis were still un-mounted and in the plastic sleeves they came
in. Near-mint condition, 38 year old skis!

Finding
these skis triggered a few memories. Though I donít talk about
it much on this web site, because this is a backcountry cross
country skiing web site, a long time ago I used to xc ski race a
lot. When I was 19, I was on the United States Ski Team and was
sponsored for a season by Lovett skis. I used Lovett skis
on the domestic racing circuit, and for international racing at
the Jr. World Championships in Switzerland and at World Cup
races in Scandinavia.

Lovett skis
were made back then by the Lovett family in Boulder, Colorado.
John Lovett founded the ski company and a number of USST
athletes raced on Lovett skis in the mid 70ís, until John sold
the company in 1978. Lovett was likely the first US producer of
fiberglass composite xc racing skis. Hexcel made fiberglass and
honeycomb xc racing skis for a year or two near when Lovett
started up. But I'm not sure which company was actually the
first US composite Nordic racing ski producer. K2 made xc
racing skis later in the 70ís. Since the early 80's, no one has
made xc racing skis in the United States.

The bottom
line about being sponsored by Lovett skis, was that it was a
really cool experience. You got to go to the ski factory and
learn how to make skis, you got to be involved in how skis were
designed, you met the guys that would be building your skis, and
if you had an idea regarding ski design* Ė soon you would be
skiing on that idea. The skis were good, the support was good
and heck, the first pair of skis I got from Lovett had serial
number ďTK1Ē Ö so how can you not love a ski company that did
stuff like that!

Knowing
that this was a pair of unique skis I had unearthed, and a
rarity because they had never been mounted, I posted a picture
of them on the web. More specifically, I posted a picture on a
Facebook group that Stacey Moon of Anchorage started: the
Vintage Nordic Skiing Gear Facebook group. This is a fun
group where folks, mostly old-timers like me, post pics of gear
from the glory days along with comments. The 70's and 80's
were really interesting times in Nordic skiing history, as there
were so many radical changes in ski equipment during that time. Iíve learned a bunch
of cool stuff from the members of this Facebook group.

After I
posted the picture of my Lovett skis, Steve Soitsman from Homer
posted that my skis showed the nice work related to ďhis
neighbor Bill and my neighbor AndreĒ. I was confused by this
comment, so I asked him to explain. Come to find out, the
brother of John Lovett moved to Alaska. Now Bill Lovett lives
in Homer. Bill worked at the Lovett ski factory back in the
70's. And Andre Lovett, his son, now ski races at Alaska
Pacific University in Anchorage.

I felt a
little embarrassed for not knowing this. I guess I havenít been
paying very close attention to local ski racing the past dozen
years (as you can probably tell from this web site).

I also
thought to myself: ďWhat the heck am I doing with these skis?
These skis are Lovett family heirlooms. The Lovetts should have
these skis, not me.Ē

So, I met
up with Andre Lovett and gave him my Lovett skis. It only took
about 15 seconds of talking to Andre before I realized he was a
likable guy. And that he was proud of his familyís ski making
history. Then I remembered, thatís about how long it took me to
like the crew at the Lovett family ski factory back in the day.
And they too took great pride in the skis they built.

There are good skis and there are magical
skis. Magical skis are good skis that are made by special
people. Lovetts were magical skis. And it was fun to
have a surprise re-connection to the days I ski raced on these
magical skis.

Me, Lovett racing skis and Andre Lovett

* I mentioned
that Lovett ski was quick to try out new ideas. Here is an
example. I had this idea of making a ski with a groove
that came down to the start of the wax pocket and then stopped.
Then a stiff wax pocket under the foot would have no groove to
increase the waxable surface by 20%. The ski would then
have three grooves from the back of the wax pocket to the tail
of the ski. The extra grooves would help with tracking and
reduce surface tension. I told the Lovett guys about this
idea. They said it sounded good and within 10 days I was
racing on such skis (and they worked out well). How many
ski companies these days would listen to a 19 year old kid and
make custom skis for him or her like Lovett did? You are
right ... none. This is just one example of what was
special about Lovett.

Mid November 2014:
Ski Gear From Where You Wouldn't Expect It

When it
comes time to buy skis, boots, bindings and poles, I never
hesitate to go to Alaska Mountaineering and Hiking. I
don't like paying lots of money for ski gear. But I
realize there is not much in the way of cheap options for higher
end ski gear. I have no problem swiping my card for
purchases from AMH, because owner Paul Denkewalter is a
wonderful person that has supported xc skiing in Alaska for
decades.

However,
when it comes to skiing gear accessories, I like to look for
products where you don't expect to find them. The bottom
line is price. For example, I can't see spending 60
dollars for a pair of gloves made in China for 5 dollars.
The same Chinese factories make similar gloves for many other
companies that mark up the price of the $5 gloves way less then
Swix, Salomon, Fischer, etc.

In past
blogs on this site (see below), I have posted where to find
sports glasses (light safety glasses) and gloves that can be
used for skiing ... at hardware stores in Anchorage, Alaska.
Here are some recent finds of stuff that can be used for skiing
that come from non-skiing shops in Anchorage ...

Mechanix
"Winter Armor" gloves. Have been skiing with
these gloves for
three weeks now. Really like them. $21 at O'Reilly's
Auto Parts on Northern Lights in Anchorage. At Lowe's for
$28. "Duck
Dynasty" fleece hats (w/ micro fleece liner). On sale for
$11 at Cabela's in Anchorage. Super comfortable, great
shape and fit.

Camo!? For
Nordic skiing!? Hell yeah! It's about time!
Plus, I will get more respect while skiing snowmobile trails if
I am sporting camo!

Anchorage xc ski racer and UAA
professor Travis Rector made me aware of a new product called
FiberFix. It's
duct tape on steroids ... "100 times stronger than duct tape".
To repair a broken ski pole I'd think this stuff would be good.
Catch is, you need to first dip it in warm water. So it
would be good for repairing a pole at home. Less so if you
were out on the trail. You can buy FiberFix at
Lowe's and
Home Depot.

More on Gear

Recently I
got a pair of SmartWool skiing socks. They were OK and would be
good for xc ski racing on days it wasnít super cold. But they
donít have anywhere near the cushioning of Thorlo Mountaineering
socks, which I have been using for skiing for 25 years now.
Cushioning and warmth are positives for long backcountry trail
skiing treks. Thorlo was way ahead of the field when they first
made these socks. And, in my opinion, no one has caught up
yet. Their thick cushioning also means warmth. Thickness is
warmth. Here is a place that has deals on Thorlo Mountaineering
socks (50% off 2nd pair) AND doesnít charge extra to ship to
Alaska -
www.gobros.com.

Early November 2014:
I
Will Be Skiing With Jeff On My New Skis This Winter

I got a new
pair of skis from AMH to replace my worn-out trail skiing
boards. The first thing I did to these
skis when I got home was
to put Jeff Dusenbury memorial stickers on them.

Jeff was
one of those few people in the world that are genetically
programmed to be nice. Not a fake nice. Not a nice
just when you feel like you should be nice. But so exuding
of a real nice and a genuine decency that it was impossible not to
like the guy.

I first met
Jeff while mountain
bike racing. I really didn't know Jeff that well, but for over ten years I would see him
constantly on trails around Anchorage. And every
time we'd meet on a trail, he would always be quicker with a "Hi Tim!"
than I would be with a "Hi Jeff!" That was Jeff. For
me, and I'm sure for many others, the trails of Anchorage will not be the
same now that
Jeff is gone.

Late October 2014:
Whoops

In the past
I have posted how to recycle ski wax, see
this
link. I have suggested not doing this process inside
to avoid fumes from the molten wax. Instead, I suggested
melting the wax scrapings outside.

Well, doing
wax melting outside has its risks too. The uneven heating
of a Pyrex measuring cup on a gas grill can cause it to crack
and explode. I recently found this out (see picture
above). Luckily this happened to me when I only had a
little bit of wax in the cup. What a mess. I had
melted wax on this outdoor grill a couple of times before.
But this time there was definitely a surprise in store. Now I
understand how people burn houses down and die from fires that occur in meth labs!
;-)

Seems like
much safer than using a gas grill would be to use an electric
hot plate. And to use it outside. A hotplate will
heat the Pyrex cup less intensely and more evenly. And the
molten wax won't catch on fire, because there is no flame
involved.

Update:
I got a hotplate and finished recycling last year's wax scrapings,
in a much safer manner ...

Using a hot plate outdoors, much
safer.

Tip: If you want a hotplate to melt
fax faster, wrap a camp stove wind screen around the container
of wax scrapings and put something, like a board, on top to trap
the heat.

10 October 2014:
The Alaska Lost Ski Areas Project - 10 Years Old On 10/10

October
10th marks the 10 year point for the
Alaska Lost Ski Areas Project
web site. If you haven't visited ALSAP in a while, you can go to
www.alsap.org, peruse the
update logs and see what has been added since your last visit.

There are now 141 historical
skiing sites identified on the ALSAP web site. I know of 3
more (2 XC, 1 Alpine) that I will be adding when I get the time.